U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry made it clear he believes the U.S. intelligence community on Russian election meddling and called Russian President Vladimir Putin “a liar” who is willing to have his opponents murdered.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Thornberry hadn’t seen the joint Trump-Putin press conference held Monday that ignited a bipartisan backlash against the president or Trump’s Tuesday afternoon statement, rejected as damage control by some.

But Thornberry had seen reports of them.

“There is no question that Russia attempted to meddle in our elections just like they have tried to meddle in a variety of elections and domestic situations in Europe for some time,” Thornberry, chairman of the House Armed Services, said.

“Putin is trying to undermine the United States at every opportunity,” said the congressman, who served on the House Intelligence Committee several years.

Thornberry said he doesn’t know why Trump appeared so friendly toward Putin.

“I think it’s very clear not only to the intelligence community but to ordinary Americans what Russia under Putin is like,” Thornberry said.

“I don’t know if the president thinks that he can somehow change that or get them to quit doing some of the harmful things they are doing,” he said.

Thornberry: U.S. not where it needs to be with cyber security

Thornberry said he could name off a long list of wrongdoing engineered under Putin, including an attempt to assassinate a former Russian spy on British soil, invading and occupying Crimea, continuing attacks in Ukraine and military intervention in Syria.

He has far worse fears than election interference in cyberspace “even though it is deplorable that Russia would try to manipulate … the American election and voting system,” Thornberry said.

He worries about cyberattacks on the U.S. electrical grid, other critical infrastructure and chemical manufacturers, and he has long expressed concerns about hacks to the financial system.

Thornberry noted that Russia has also sought to divide us from one another through not only its cyberoperation but also its sophisticated propaganda machine.

Russians have taken to social media on issues such as gun control “to pour fuel on the flames on both sides,” Thornberry said.

“They could do worse, and we are still not where we need to be in defending our country in cyberspace,” he said.

The Russians and the Chinese are outpacing the U.S. in that arena.

Cybersecurity a concern with midterm elections approaching

Thornberry hopes the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act lawmakers are hammering out in conference committee this month will help close that gap.

But there is not a single bill lawmakers can push to remedy the complex problem of cyber defense.

“There is no question that Russia attempted to meddle in our elections just like they have tried to meddle in a variety of elections and domestic situations in Europe for some time.”

U.S. Rep. Mac Thornberry

With midterm elections on the horizon, Thornberry said the country needs a plan for the federal government to help state governments protect their voting systems even though there are 50 different systems.

On Tuesday, Trump said he met with Putin about two and a half hours Monday.

Trump maintained a friendly attitude toward a country and a leader widely regarded with distrust in the United States.

“Russia and us have 90 percent of the nuclear weapons, and I’ve always thought getting along was a positive thing for that reason,” Trump said Tuesday.

U.S., Russia meeting draws criticism from legislators

A Republican congressman whose district stretches from San Antonio to El Paso along the border was among those condemning Trump’s relationship with Putin.

“I've seen Russian intelligence manipulate many people over my professional career and I never would have thought that the US President would become one of the ones getting played by old KGB hands,” U.S. Rep. Will Hurd of the U.S. 23rd Congressional District tweeted.

Hurd is a former CIA agent.

CLOSE

A day after U.S. President Donald Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President Trump is going back on comments he made during their joint press conference. (July 17)
AP

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, tweeted “False” to Putin’s denials of Russian interference in U.S. internal affairs or elections to Fox News reporter Chris Wallace on Monday.

The same day on the Senate floor, Cornyn said he thinks the president is “conflating different things — the meddling and the collusion allegations for which there does not appear to be any evidence.”

Among his remarks Monday, Trump said there wasn’t any collusion at all.

"So far that I know, virtually none of it related to the campaign. And they're going to have to try really hard to find somebody that did relate to the campaign,” he said.

A bipartisan backlash erupted after the president spoke publicly Monday in Helsinki, following a closed-door meeting with the Russian president.

“Dan Coats came to me and some others,” Trump said Monday. “They said they think it's Russia. I have President Putin. He just said it's not Russia.”

Then he made the statement, since clarified: “I will say this, I don’t see any reason why it would be Russia.”

Trump indicated he divided both his confidence and blame between Russia and the U.S.

"I hold both countries responsible. I think that the United States has been foolish. I think we've all been foolish,” he said. “And I think we're all to blame.”

CLOSE

The late-night comics talk treason in Best of Late Night. Watch our favorite jokes, then vote for yours at usatoday.com/opinion.
Eileen Rivers, USA TODAY Opinion